Legend of the Wolf (1997)
Overview
Wolf is a war veteran who recounts the tale of his legendary youth to a young upstart killer. Flashback to a post-World War 2 time when the young Wolf is wandering the Chinese countryside in search of his missing memories. He only knows to meet someone at an abandoned temple. He ends up hooking up with a local villager, who intends to guide the Wolf to his destination. On the way, they find Wai-Yee, who’s been waiting for Wolf for quite some time. However, Wolf still can’t remember anything, until the bad guys come to find him, and they bear the terrible secret of the Wolf's past.
Cast
Donnie Yen
Fung Man-hin
Carman Lee Yeuk-Tung
Wai-Yee
Dayo Wong
Wai
Ben Lam Kwok-Bun
Bandit Leader
Edmond Leung Hon-Man
Ben Chan
Bonnie Lai Suk-Yin
Mak Wai-Cheung
Monkey style fighter
Tony Tam Chun-To
Fighter with chains
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CrazyJekyll
I freaking love this movie.
Everyone may not love Donnie's experimental take, but i'd argue that the fights in this movie, in particular the final fights with Mak Wai Cheung and Ben Lam, all show much more fun directorial/creative chops than the modern 87Eleven/John Wick style of action.
I've already said this before but the 87Eleven style has always been too clean for me. Their style to me has always just looked like a glorified stunt reel rather than an actual film. And in John Wick in particular, the fun stuff almost always goes to the set design and never the choreography or camera work.
But when it comes to Legend of the Wolf, We see Donnie go full action expressionistic madman. Utilizing insane frenetic camera work, fast chaotic movement that evokes insane bursts of kinetic energy, and his classic "uncooperative" style choreography which utilizes less holds, poses, and shapes to make the fight look more "real" or more dangerous.
All of it is then topped with a consistent editing rhythm, that balances all the chaos that fuckin ensues in the film.
If the John Wick movies are like watching a beautiful river run smooth, then Donnie's Legend of The Wolf is like a big forrest fire that just cannot be stopped.
Words alone cannot really do this movie justice, you're just gonna have to watch it.
